Training to use deadly force

It wasn't supposed to happen, but an undercover officer took a man's life Tuesday night in a drug bust gone wrong. KTTC investigates what decisions an officer must make before pulling the trigger.

"Everything else has to be eliminated before you decide to use deadly force. Because once you make that decision to use deadly force, there's no taking it back."

That's what law enforcement instructors like Randy Mohawk teach students who want to be police officers.

It's also a decision that was made Tuesday night when an undercover officer shot and killed 26-year-old Mario Campos. It was a drug bust that turned into a nightmare when officials say Campos injured an officer with his car while trying to flee the scene.

Mohawk says using deadly force is rare, at least in non-metro cities.

"I've spent 27 years in law enforcement before retiring and coming into the teaching profession, and during that time, I've drawn my weapon a number of times, but I've never fired at an individual with my fire-arm."

Mohawk says he can't possibly imagine what the undercover officer is going through, but he says every officer deals with the stress differently.

"It depends on what happens after. If he gets counseling and other things that help you deal with the stress of the shooting incident," says Mohawk.

Now he teaches RCTC students how to make the best decisions in dangerous situations.

While students learn to shoot accurately during the simulation, the point is to use other means of communication to handle the situation.

"These scenarios requires student to use, not only good judgment, but also to use good verbalization skills, good evaluation skills, to determine what's appropriate for each scenario."

While Mohawk hopes his students never get into a shoot-out situation, he says he hopes they will be well-prepared mentally for whatever comes.

According to Mohawk, an officer involved in a shooting normally retires within 5 years of the incident due to stress. As for weapons training at RCTC, a student must have 2 years of it before he or she can graduate.

Rochester police say a man was "definitely under the influence of alcohol" when he allegedly stabbed two neighbors to death at a Salvation Army apartment building. Glenn Johnson, 53, was arrested shortly after the stabbings Saturday night at Castleview Apartments as police say he tried to flee from a rear stairway. He was being held Sunday on two tentative counts of second-degree murder.

Rochester police say a man was "definitely under the influence of alcohol" when he allegedly stabbed two neighbors to death at a Salvation Army apartment building. Glenn Johnson, 53, was arrested shortly after the stabbings Saturday night at Castleview Apartments as police say he tried to flee from a rear stairway. He was being held Sunday on two tentative counts of second-degree murder.

Two people are dead in what Rochester police believe to be a double homicide. Rochester police responded to a report of a double stabbing at Castleview Apartments, located at 120 North Broadway, around 7:15 Saturday night. They found two men on the 4th floor with critical stab wounds. Both men were taken to Saint Marys Hospital where they were pronounced dead less than an hour later. An officer found a male suspect attempting to leave the building from a back stairway. He was...More >>

Two people are dead in what Rochester police believe to be a double homicide. Rochester police responded to a report of a double stabbing at Castleview Apartments, located at 120 North Broadway, around 7:15 Saturday night. They found two men on the 4th floor with critical stab wounds. Both men were taken to Saint Marys Hospital where they were pronounced dead less than an hour later. An officer found a male suspect attempting to leave the building from a back stairway. He was...More >>

(Joe Ahlquist/The Rochester Post-Bulletin via AP). Emergency personnel respond to the scene of a fatal stabbing Saturday, March 17, 2018, at the Salvation Army Castleview Residence in downtown Rochester, Minn. Police have arrested a man in the multiple...

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.More >>

Police have arrested a man in the fatal stabbing of two men at a Salvation Army apartment building in downtown Rochester, Minnesota.More >>

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show some officials were so concerned about the mental stability of the student accused of last month's shooting rampage at a Florida high school that they decided he should be forcibly committed. But the recommendation was never acted upon. Cruz is accused of killing 14 students and three school employees at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In addition, 17 others were wounded.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press show some officials were so concerned about the mental stability of the student accused of last month's shooting rampage at a Florida high school that they decided he should be forcibly committed. But the recommendation was never acted upon. Cruz is accused of killing 14 students and three school employees at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland on Feb. 14. In addition, 17 others were wounded.

Another explosion has been reported in Austin, Texas, and emergency officials were responding to early reports of two men injured. Austin-Travis County Emergency Management Services tweeted Sunday night that an explosion in southwest Austin had injured two men in their 20s. There were preliminary reports of two possible explosions, but officials later tweeted that only one had been confirmed so far. There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion.

Another explosion has been reported in Austin, Texas, and emergency officials were responding to early reports of two men injured. Austin-Travis County Emergency Management Services tweeted Sunday night that an explosion in southwest Austin had injured two men in their 20s. There were preliminary reports of two possible explosions, but officials later tweeted that only one had been confirmed so far. There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion.

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.More >>

Authorities say a missing Pennsylvania teenager and a 45-year-old man who frequently signed her out of school without her parents' permission have been located in Mexico, and the man has been arrested.More >>